US Plans New Step On H-1B Visa, Will Benefit Thousands Of Indian Techs

Washington:

In a move that could benefit tens of thousands of foreign tech workers on H-1B and L1 visas, the U.S. plans to resume “revalidation of domestic visas” in certain categories on a trial basis with the aim of rolling them out in the coming months. scale up for a few years. years.

Launching later this year, the pilot project, when fully implemented, would bring great relief to thousands of Indian tech professionals in the United States.

Until 2004, certain categories of non-immigrant visas, most notably the H-1B, could be extended or stamped within the US. After that, the foreign technicians for extension of these visas, especially those on H-1B, have to leave the country, usually to their own country to get the H-1B extension stamped in their passport.

For all H-1B visa holders: When their visa is renewed, they must have their passports stamped with the renewal dates. This is required if they want to travel outside the US and re-enter the US. As of now, re-stamping of H-1B visas is not allowed in the US.

Re-stamping is only possible at any US consulate.

This has been a great inconvenience to foreign guest workers as well as their employees, especially at a time when visa waiting times are over 800 days or more than two years.

The highly sought-after H-1B visas are issued for three years at a time.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows U.S. companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of workers each year from countries like India and China.

“We are seriously working on plans to restart this service for certain petition-based NIV categories, and we hope to launch a pilot later this year, which will eliminate the need for these applicants to travel abroad to renew visas,” a spokesman for the State Department told PTI.

Until 2004, the State Department facilitated the extension of domestic visas for applicants physically present in the US and the extension of visas in certain petition-based nonimmigrant visa (NIV) categories, the official said.

“We cannot comment on how many visa holders would be eligible initially, but the pilot would start with a small number of cases before scaling up over the next 1-2 years,” the State Department spokesman said in a statement. answer to a question.

In recent months, the Biden administration has taken several steps to streamline the visa processing system and reduce inconveniences.

In particular, this was one of the recommendations of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, which now appears to have been implemented by the State Department.

Under the existing rule, which came into effect in 2004, the procedure for re-stamping H1-B and L visas is to visit the home country and submit their H1 and L1 visas, passports and documents through a drop box or interview.

People have to wait months or years for the H1-B visa to be stamped or sometimes they get no reply after submitting all the documents and are stuck in their home country for more than 2 years. While their families in the US are waiting for him/her to return, the Presidential Commission had been demonstrating in one of its meetings last year.

Moved by a committee member, Ajay Jain Bhutoria of Silicon Valley, the presidential committee recommended that H1-B and L visas be allowed for re-stamping in the US by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

It urged the USCIS to create a separate department or unit to handle re-stamping of renewed H1-B and L visas within the US.

The commission felt that the entire process has proven very painful for legal immigrants who are invited to work here in the US to support US businesses and the economy.

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